Shooting Our Mouths Off

After storming Galway International Arts Festival, the band headed to Killarney for a headline show at the Gleneagle Arena. With a capacity of 3,000, it’s Ireland’s largest music and multi-purpose venue outside Dublin, making the evening feel like the Irish counterpart to April’s Love Is the Answer shows.

As this was one of the band’s own headline dates, they were able to hold a VIP soundcheck featuring the usual three-song set and Q&A. Currently in the process of recording their next album, the band’s creative energy is clearly flowing, and they debuted a new song, ‘Stranger to Your Heart’ – a slow, atmospheric track.

One question about the band members’ favourite James songs produced a range of answers: Chloe chose ‘PS’, Tim picked ‘Zero’, while Andy and Jim both went for ‘Nantucket’. This prompted Saul to suggest they play ‘Curse Curse’, which is Dave’s favourite and, despite being hugely popular with fans, rarely appears in the set. Another memorable question concerned Debbie’s journey into motherhood while continuing to tour, and which member of the band makes the best “grandad”. Debbie explained that she had always wanted to be both a drummer and a mother, but had never imagined the two could coexist, leaving her feeling incredibly grateful. She added that her son and Saul share a particularly special bond, prompting Tim to joke that he and Jim were now sulking.

The final soundcheck song was the funky ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’, last heard during sound-checks on the arena tour, as well as at the warm-up dates and in Birmingham. Having been developed further in recent weeks, it now benefits from a jubilant trumpet line.

The Galway blog mentioned that ‘Johnny Yen’ and ‘Five-O’ have recently been alternating as the opening song. In Killarney, it was the latter’s turn, placing the spotlight firmly on Saul as he launched the show with an extended violin solo that lifted the track into another dimension. ‘Waltzing Along’ and ‘Curse Curse’ followed as a high-energy pairing, before the raw power of the band’s first-ever single, ‘What’s the World’, cut through.

‘Stay’, ‘Way Over Your Head’ and ‘Shadow of a Giant’ were once again the three Yummy tracks performed on the night. ‘Way Over Your Head’ remains the only song to have been played at every show this year, with the exception of February’s album-launch performances in Kingston and Liverpool. Some bands say very little onstage, but James have an extraordinary connection both with one another and with the audience. A particularly funny moment came at the end of ‘Stay’, when Tim revealed that his wife had misheard the lyric “grit, pearl, oyster” as “grip her oyster”. Saul then admitted that he sings “lovers of cod” instead of “lovers of God”.

‘Zero’ was the biggest surprise of the night. Opening with vocal trills and gentle piano, it explores mortality in a way that feels distinctly James. Tim has never shied away from difficult subjects in his lyrics, and that honesty is a large part of why so many people connect so deeply with them. ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Beautiful Beaches’ stood side by side as two of the set’s other highlights. Beginning with Saul on acoustic guitar, the former built towards an instrumental section that saw him and Jim playing face to face, guitar and bass intertwining. It was a perfect display of the band’s chemistry and the way they feed off one another, before the rest of the group came crashing in for a moment of pure euphoria.

The second the familiar organ-like opening of ‘Beautiful Beaches’ rang out, the crowd erupted. The All the Colours of You track appeared only once during the arena tour, and it had clearly been missed. Depending on time constraints, the band perform either a shorter or extended version; this time, they chose the latter. It included an epic drum battle between Dave and Debbie that lasted even longer than usual, and both looked as though they were loving every second.

‘Sit Down’ is another song that is regularly reworked live. This version began with Saul on acoustic guitar while Tim encouraged the crowd to take the lead on vocals before Dave’s drumbeat came crashing in and Tim took over. It might seem like an impossible song to follow, but James have never had that problem, and it flowed seamlessly into ‘Getting Away With It’, bringing the main set to a triumphant close.

New song ‘Nantucket’ retains its well-deserved place at the start of the encore. From the country-influenced edge of Saul’s violin to Jim’s funky bass riff, it showcases the creativity of every member of the band, bringing their individual talents together in a way that only James can. Everyone gets their moment to shine. The ever-unifying ‘Sometimes’ followed, before the band gave everything they had to the night’s final track, ‘Laid’.